Surface-covering tile



May 12, 1953 Z w MANN 2,637,995

SURFACE-COVERING TILE Filed Dec. 22, 1948 IN VEN TOR.

Zjern/ MM2/72m, I wm, M+@ @l Patented May 12, 1953 senrnenf-oovnniNGTILE- Zei-verla. W, Maxim G hicago, Ill., assigner to The Meyercord.Co., Chicago, Ill.. a, corporation of' Illinois,

ApplicationDeoemberiZ, 1948; Serial N0.v 66396 4 Claims.. 1

This invention relates to.y improyements, in surf face-covering articlessuch as Wall tiles, decolrative plaques, and the like.

The application of various typesl of facing ma.- terials, such as wallor floor tile, has heretofore been accomplished by cementing tothezsurface of the wall or floor a large number' of relatively smallindividual tiles. formed ofplastic, light Weight metal, or othersuitable material. A spe..`

cial cement or mastic is ordinarily employed, the

cement being supplied in separate containers in dependently of thetiles; and, being. spread or smeared by' handy over the surface to bedeco,.-V rated or on the backs of the individual:` tiles. folr lowingwhich the tiles are pressed into position on the surface. As a resultofthe necessary handlingy or these. sticky materials; such installations.have generallybeen considered to be; tedious; il:` convenient, and notAWell` adapted for home use,

bythe amateur or averagev home; owner unskilled o in such techniques.

Accordingly, a primary object. of my invention is to provide asurfacecoveringx article-r such. a wall tiley or the like, which can.be. easily and satisfactorily installed byl the average person Without,the need for special. skill or long: ex.- perience andv which can beinstalled more quick.- ly and more economically as compared'Y with theolder methods of tile application.

A further object. of my invention is to. provide a surtacefcoveringarticle, such' as a. wall tile` or thel like, which canv be appliedVto.V a. surface with out. the necessity of utilizing, va separate.cement. or mastic.

Another object of myinyention is tofprovide: a. suriaeecoveringarticle;such as, aV wal-ll tile. or the like, having the recmisitey amount of a.suit.-Y able adhesivey or bonding agent; already applied thereto,thereby eliminating: separatev handling and application of a. specialadhesive installation.

Still anotherl object. of my invent-ion is to; pro.- vide asurface-.covering article such' as a wall tile. or theV like, which. hasapplied to: one side. thereof. asuitable quantity of' aypressure-sensitive adhesive or mastic which; retains its.. normallytackycondition for long periods of time therebyperniitting theI article to.be applicato; a surface merely by pressing. the adhesive.-covererzlLside thereof into close contactwith the surface to be; decorated.

An additional object of. theninventon is to,` m0.1

` vide a. substantially fiat surtace-covering article.

such as` av wall tile.` QE' the like, which has 01.1.8: side thereofcovered with a suitablesmw-dryina pressure-sensitive adhesive: saidadhesive being provided with removable protecting means to preserve itsadhesive properties during non-use of ther article, butl said protectingmeans being. readily removable to expose said adhesive when itisdesiredto apply the article. to a surface.

Other objects, andi advantages of my invention will become apparent fromthe subsequent detailed description of the invention and theaccompanying drawing', in` which:

lian` 1 is a4 plan View of. a, Wall tile` embodying the novel features;of my invention and Showing. a tile member disposed on an underlyingsealingl or protective sheet;

Fig. 2` is a` crossesectional View taken along the line. 2-2 of Fig. l,the, relative thicknesses of the several layers being` exaggerated forthe salse of` clarity;

Fig. 3 is ay cross-sectional ViewA of a Wall tile similar to Fig.. 2but; showing the, marginal edges. of the sealing sheet in creased or11p-turned position;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional View of a. slightly different embodiment in,which the sealing or protiective sheet is substantially ooextensive.with the, tile. member; and

Fie 5 isa fragmentary crossfsectonal View of a. wall having. applied.thereto a plurality of tiles of the type described herein.

Briefly), the improved vvall` tile unit or similar surface-coveringarticle of' my invention comprises a laminar structure in which theoutermost layer is a generally nat semi-rigid surface-covering member,such as av plastic tile. Disposed on the inner surface of this member isa relatively thick stratum or layer ofa normally tacky. mastic orpressure-senstive adhesive material adapted to permanently bond the tilemember to a surface. A removable sealing or protectiveA sheet isdisposed over the exposed surface of the adhesive layer'to protect thesame prior toV application of the tleto a surface. As will be describedhereinafter in detail, thev tile member is preferably formed withinturned' lips adjacent its edges in order to retain or hold therelatively thick ad hesive stratum on the tile.' and to permit sealingengagement of the protective sheet with the peripheral edges of the tilemember. As will also appear hereinafter, the protective or'seallng sheetis preferably in the form oi' a decalcoman-ia backing paper havingl aWater soluble gum or adhesive coating thereby permitting the sealingsheet to be readily released from the. tile merely by wetting.

Referring now to the drawing, Figs. l, 2y, and 3v illustrate, merely byway of example, one form of my invention comprising a decorative orcolored tile of the type adapted particularly for use on bathroom orkitchen walls or other similar surfaces. As seen in Fig. 2, the articleccm-- prises a rectangular tile member 5 having a substantially flatcentral or body portion l and having its outermost edges bent away fromthe plane of the body portion I to denne a rim comprising a plurality ofconnected peripheral retaining lips 8 along the four sides of the tile.The tile mem-- ber 6 may be formed from a suitable relativelylight-weight material, such as plastic, lightweight metal, stiffenameled paper, and other compositions capable of being formed intorelatively rigid or semi-rigid sheets. I have found that certain of thewell known synthetic plastics containing resins of the thermosetting orthermoplastic type are particularly useful, e. g. polystyrene,urea-formaldehyde, etc.

As a result of the peripheral retaining lips 8, the tile member 6constitutes in effect a shallow tray-like receptacle. The body portion lwithin the surroundingretaining rim or lip portions i3 is lleol with arelatively thick layer 9 of a suitbe of the plastic, pressure-sensitive,normallytacky, and preferably water insoluble type. In addition, theadhesive composition forming the layer 9 should be of a relatively slowdrying or slow setting type which will retain its pressuresensitive andnormally-tacky characteristics for relatively long periods of time. Inorder to insure the slow drying property of the adhesive composition ormastic, I prefer to employ a material containing as one of its principalingredients a relatively slow-drying drying oil, e. g. of the fatty acidglyceride type, along with a filler. An adhesive composition which meetsthe foregoing requirements may be formed by compositing castor oil withWhiting (calcium carbonate) and bleached white rosin, as fillers, in theproportions of 8 ounces of castor oil to 8 pounds of Whiting and 4pounds of rosin. The viscosity or uidity ofthe adhesive may be regulatedby varying the amount of castor oil relative to the ller.

In order to obtain a strong bond between the tile member 6 and thesurface to whichl it is applied, the adhesive stratum or layer 9 .shouldbe relatively thick and in most cases the entire depth of the tileenclosed by the peripheral lip portions 8 will be filled with adhesiveto the outermost extremities or edges II of the lip portions 8. By theterm relatively thick I mean a thickness many times greater than theorder of thickness of the adhesive layer in an ordinarypressure-sensitive type decalcomania or in the well known forms ofadhesive tape and transparent cellulose tape. For example, a wall tileunit which I have found to be satisfactory has an adhesive layer 9 about.05 inch thick with the flat central portion of the tile member 6 alsoabout .05 inch thick. The thickness of the layer 9 is important becauseof the semi-rigid nature of the tile member 5 which renders itincapable' of conforming to slight surface irregularities when the tilemember is applied to a wall or other surface. By employing a relativelylarge quantity of adhesive in the layer 9, the adhesive stratum itselfconforms to and compensates for surface irregularities, therebyeliminating the necessity of smoothing oit` such surface, and at thesame time insures the existence of a strong ultimate bond capable ofsupporting the weight of the tile member Ii in any position.

Prior to use of the article, the adhesive or mastic stratum 9 isprotected by means of a sealing or protective sheet comprisingpreferably a rectangular sheet of paper I2 having applied to one sidethereof a coating I3 of a water soluble gum or adhesive, e. g. dextrine.The water soluble coating I3 is disposed directly against the adhesivestratum 9, and the sheet I2 is preferablyv in peripheral sealingengagement with the outermost linear edges II of the rim or lip portions8 thereby completely protecting the adhesive layer 9. The paper sheet I2having a coating I3 may be of a standard type known as simplex paper andcommonly used as a releasable backing or support for decalcomanias. Thesheet I2 is readily releasable from the tile member 6 and its adhesivelayer 9 merely by immersing or otherwise wetting the paper I2 to softenor dissolve the water soluble coating I3.

Thus, it will be seen that the protective or sealing sheet I2 serves twopurposes. During storage, packaging, and handling of the individualtiles, the sealing sheet I2 permits the tiles to be stacked withoutadhering to one another and also protects the user from unnecessarycontact with the sticky adhesive composition. Furthermore, by protectingthe mastic layer 9 from the atmosphere, the tile structure may be storedfor relatively long periods of time, for example, on a dealers shelf,without the adhesive drying out and becoming ineffective. Although Iprefer to employ as the sealing sheet a paper of the decalcomaniabacking type having a water soluble gum thereon and which is releasablemerely by wetting, nevertheless, other suitable forms of sealing meansmay be employed.

As will be seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the sealing sheet I2 is preferablyof greater size than the tile member 6 thereby providing an extendingmarginal portion I4 around the tile member 6. Thus, if slippage ordisplacement should occur between the tile 6 and the sheet I2, there isno danger of the mastic layer 9 being lpartially exposed to the air. Ifdesired, the marginal portion I4 may be creased and turned up around thesides of the tile member 6, as shown in Fig. 3, thereby minimizing anydanger of slippage of the tile member B on the sealing sheet I2 and alsoserving further to protect the adhesive layer 9. Packaging of theindividual articles is also facilitated by turning up the marginal edgesI4 of the sealing sheet I2 since in this condition the articles mayreadily be stacked or nested. The provision of the marginal portions I4also facilitates handling of the,

tile and assists in the easy removal of the sealing sheet preparatory toapplication of the tile to a wall surface. The marginal portion I4 mayextend to any desired extent from the tile member 6, e. g. from 1/8 to1/, inch. With square tile members having a side dimension of about 4inches, I have found that a marginal extension of about l/2 inch isparticularly satisfactory although, of course, this could be madegreater or smaller as desired.

In Fig. 4, I have shown a modified form of the invention in which thesealing Sheet I2 having the water soluble coating I3 is merelycoextensive in size with the tile member 6 thereby eliminating themarginal portions I4 shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. This form of theinvention may be preferred in certain cases although it entails a re1-atively precise cutting operation and accurate accresce l; IA registryof the protective: sheet t2 with the tile member t which is notnecessary when. the marginal portions Iii are provided.. ln this embodiment of the invention it is likewise preferred to have the edges of thesheet I2' in sealing engagement with edges il or the lip portions e.

` tion ofthe surface-covering articles. ci" my invention, the protectivesheet i12- may be released from the tile member by submergthe ent4 sarticle in Water ior a few seconds after which he paper sheet Iii' maybe readily .or stripped oil' thereby exposing the pressuresensitiveadhesive stratum Si. [is previcuslymentioned. the mastic comprising thelayer @i should be water insoluble so tha'tit. will not be aiiectedduring rem-oval or the sheet` i2 by wetting. It will usually bedesirable to. give the exposed adhesive layer an additional water rinsein order to remove any remaining water soluble gum. As illustrated inFig. 5, the tile member E may then be applied in the desired location ona wall it merely by pressing the exposed adhesive covered side of thetile rmly into place against the wall surface. The relatively thickmastic layer will readily conform to any minor surface irregularities,such as shown in an exaggerated degree at Il, and will ultimately dry toform a strong permanent bond. l have observed that, when tile members oiplastic composition are employed, pressure may be applied iiatwise tothe central or body portion 'i of the tile member t to depress the sameslightly and upon release thereof a vacuum-like condition is createdbetween the tile member 5 and the wall it thereby further serving tosecln'e the tile member E5 to the wall surface. As seen in Fig. 5, theindividual tile members t may be applied one at a time with the lipportions 8 in abutting relation to forni a continuous tiled surface overthe wall When it is necessary to install the individual le membersaround pipes, sinks, tubs, etc., the necessary fitting may be readilyaccomplished by cutting the tile with a saw or shears prior to theremoval of the protective sheet i2. ln this man ner the presence of theadhesive layer 9 does not interfere with the shaping or ntting operationnor does the adhesive smear or run out. The protective sheet I2 holdsthe adhesive layer il in place during the cutting operation so that asection may be cleanly cut away.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the wall tile unit comprisingthe present invention 'pose sesses great benefits and advantages,particularly to the average home owner. The messy and tedius applicationof a separate adhesive compound from a separate container to a wallsurface requiring the use of special applicators, Ihas been climinnated. A home owner by such old method was forced to work long hours inorder to complete a job or at least one entire Wall section inasmuch asthe adhesive compound which had been smeared on the wall would dry andbecome un- Worlrable unless tile sections were applied in a relativelyshort time. Furthermore, once opened, the adhesive compound in thecontainer tended to dry out unless used `promptly or carefully sealed.With thc structure of the present invention, a home owner may merelyremove all at once the backings from as many tile units as he may careto apply at any one session of work or as many as he may have time toapply. He need not cornplete the job at any one time but it may be donein a somewhat leisurely fashion. Moreover, because the separateapplication of adhesive has been eliminated, the tiles maybe appliedquite 6. quickly: and. cleanly and?, in fact, a. Wholobathroom or alarge wall section mayv be covered' a relatively snort time with much.improved results over the old. methods.

Although I have shown individual tile. menibers of relatively smallsize, it` is. within the scope or" my invention to` form relativelylarge.- tile sectionsV in this. manner. Also, I may prov-ide tile sheetsmarked to simulate a bloclr oi four or more tile. members, a protectivesheet l? being employed forl the entire block; Furthermore, althoughthe4 tile members t1 will osu# ally be. provided in; the form orrectangular or square units. asV shown, my invention contemplatessuriacecovering articles; or anyr desired configuration.

'lheinvention has been described with particular emphasis on a walltile, but it will be apparent that the principles of the invention areequally applicable to any type of generally at surface-covering article.For example, advertising signs or plaques may be prepared in this mannerand employed for display purposes on Windows, showcases, etc. Thesurface-covering member may comprise any desired form of display ordecoration containing printed matter, pictorial representations, orartistic designs as well as the tile or simulated tile discussed ingreater detail herein. It will also be understood that various othermodications and equivalents may be substituted within the scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. An article of the class described comprising a semi-rigid tile memberhaving a generally ilat body portion and lip portions adjacent theperipheral edges thereof turned outwardly from 'the plane of said bodyportion to define an adhesive-receiving recess on one side of saidmember, a layer of a normallyntacky pressure-sensitive adhesive materialdisposed in said recess, said layer of adhesive material beingperipherally enclosed and substantially isolated by said lip portionsand said recess being filled by said adhesive material substantially tothe outer extremities of said lip portions, and a removable scalingsheet disposed over said adhesive layer in sealing engagement with saidlip portions around the entire periphery of said member whereby saidadhesive layer is completely enclosed for maintaining its normally tackyand p1essuresensitive condition during non-use of the article, saidsheet being releasable from said adhesive layer and said lip portions toexpose the same for adhering said member to a surface withoutrequiringthe use oi additional adhesive material.

2. The article of claim l further characterized in that said sealingsheet is provided with a water soluble coating on the side adjacent saidadhesive layer whereby said sheet may be released by wetting with water.

3. An article of the class described comprising a generally fiatsemi-rigid tile member having rearwardly extending peripheral lipsdenning an adhesive-receiving recess at the back of the tile member, alayer of a water insoluble pressuresensitive adhesive disposed in saidrecess, said adhesive layer being peripherally enclosed andsubstantially isolated by said lips and said recess being filled by saidadhesive substantially to the outer extremities of said lips, and aprotective paper sheet having a water soluble gum coating thereondisposed over the back of said tile member with the gum coated side ofthe paper adjacent said adhesive and in sealing engagement with saidlips around the entire periphery of the tile member whereby to encloseand protect said adhesive for maintaining its pressure sensitivecondition during non-use of the article, said protective sheet beingreadily releasable from the article upon wetting with water whereby toexpose said adhesive for adhering the tile member to a surface withoutrequiring the use of additional adhesive.

4. The article of claim 1 further characterized in that said sealingsheet is larger than said tile member whereby to provide an extendedmarginal portion around the periphery of said member for facilitatinghandling of the article.

ZELVERN W. MANN.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 51,881,438 1,990,701 2,145,068 2,156,149 2,173,622 2,304,787 2,326,5812,381,605 2,383,884

15 Number Name Date Fischer Oct. 11, 1932 Knight Feb. 12, 1935Batcheller Jan. 24, 1939 Feichter Apr. 25, 1939 Crooks et al. Sept. 19,1939 Avery Dec. 15, 1942 Van Cleef Aug. 10, 1943 Leander Aug. 7, 1945Palmquist Aug. 28, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1935Great Britain of 1936

